Notice: Rod & Mandy just added the first two Stirling Creams to the line up. I just ordered some Bergamot Lavender to try!
I've have two new pucks of Stirling awaiting use.....this weekend! Side Note: The other day, I used for the first time Stirling 'Sharp Dressed Man' aftershave splash. I had just finished a nice straight-razor shave, rinsed and lightly toweled off, and pooled a small amount of the splash in hand and rubbed it on my face. IMMEDIATELY, my face began to tingle then really BURN! Yowsa! I waited for the burn to dissipate, but man, it was not pleasant! I know what menthol 'cool burn' feels like, and this was nothing like that. Wholly unpleasant. I rubbed shea butter cream over my entire burning beard area, which seemed to temper the discomfort. The splash certainly smells great, but I'm hesitant to reapply it after my initial experience. Nothing in the ingredients list jumps out—in fact many of the same ingredients are in my favorite homemade BR aftershave (alcohol, witch hazel with aloe, FO, glycerin...)—which feels GREAT on the skin. Odd. [Stirlng Splash Ingredients: Ingredients: Denatured Alcohol, Witch Hazel, Fragrance Oil, Aloe, Glycerin, Hydrovance] Hydrovance is simply an emollient for moisturization efficacy.
It could have been one, Chuck, but there wasn't any of the skin redness or puffiness one can often display with a typical topical allergic reaction. This was merely an on-fire, stinging sensation, muted by the shea butter.
Huh, yeah, that's strange. I have a couple of them, though not the SDM, and they seem to be fairly high alcohol content compared to other aftershaves I have, but no reaction like you're describing.
I must be crazy........ It is going to be 100 here in south Texas again today and I pulled out my Bay Rum? Great lather and shave. FYI-Rod is indeed working on a line of shave creams. When I saw a "Stirling Cream" on the home page I "assumed" it was the new shave cream. Being single, I don't use a lot of face/skin cream. Rod immediately credited back my order....his usual excellent customer service. He says the new shave creams should be ready after the first of the year.
You are not alone! I got some of their Bay Laurel AS in the travelling box here and got around to trying it a couple of weeks ago. OUCH! No idea why either, but it sounds like we had similar reactions. I think I'll stick with their wonderful soaps and avoid their face melting AS's.
Interesting. Have you had similar reactions to other AS as well? I haven't—which is the puzzling thing.
Not like this, no. I've always had a really sensitive face, but every irritation I've ever had also went along with the redness and puffiness you'd imagine. I had what you described, an intense burning without any kind of allergic reaction.
Waiting on my: Ozark Mountain Soap Glacial Obsidian Soap Anise Soap Sharp Dressed Man Soap And Ozark Mountain Aftershave Splash Super Black Ice Splash - Custom AS it has 2x the Menthol and Anise as usual! Sharp Dressed Man - AS Balm
I have decided to work the Stirling pucks out of my regular rotation. Heres' the deal: I understand the YMMV aspect of shaving goods. I see it frequently when we discuss soaps, creams, brushes, razors. With soaps, it is often 'hit or miss' with users depending upon the aspects such as fragrance, ease of and density of lather, skin conditioning, etc. I have tried and used nearly a dozen pucks from Stirling. In fact I posted earlier in this thread, my difficultly in getting regular good lathers from the puck, and solutions were offered to solve the issue. 'Soaking the puck' seemed to resolve most problems—at least with that particular soap puck. But every puck of Stirling seems to present me with new challenges—particularly as a face-latherer. The issues for me using their soaps seem to be consistent: Thin, fading lather; drying of skin—but great scent and menthol punch! As many have discovered with Mitchells Wool Fat, getting good lather requires some effort. For me, personally, I've grown weary of having to work at developing a decent lather when I have a number of other fine soaps that are not so difficult. I'm no newb at making lather—and I do have a few pucks that require extra effort (Pre de Provence comes to mind), but most of these wind up getting shelved eventually in favor of other more 'pliable' soaps. This is too bad as I really do like the variety of soaps 'flavors' Stirling offers, and others at TSD really love the stuff! Who knows? Maybe a possible PIF in the future….
In the big picture, absolutely not. But since when are we all about 'needs', not 'wants' here at TSD? I AM long overdue in thinning the herd….
